Chapter 1518: An Introduction

The woman could only stare at Erend for several seconds. Her eyes and mouth remained wide open, and she did not even blink. She barely moved at all. It was difficult to tell whether she was simply overwhelmed by what she had seen or whether fear had completely frozen her in place.

Erend watched her carefully while observing his surroundings. He looked around the barren landscape but could not see anyone else nearby.

The woman appeared to be completely alone in this desolate place, surrounded by dry earth, dead vegetation, and scattered remains of whatever life had once existed here. Fortunately, the air did not seem toxic, so despite the harsh environment, it was still breathable.

Erend’s attention returned to the woman. She wore clothes that looked worn and old but were clearly made to endure harsh conditions. Her outfit consisted of a faded, heavy leather jacket with several layers underneath, reinforced trousers, sturdy boots, and pieces of cloth wrapped around parts of her arms and neck to protect her from the dust.

Several sections of her clothes had been repaired with rough stitching and patches of different materials. The clothes looked more like survival gear than ordinary clothing.

Erend had seen clothing like that before in old post-apocalyptic television shows. The thought almost made him smile with bitterness. Considering the condition of Valthoria, the comparison was not far from reality.

This world really had entered an age that looked like a post-apocalypse.

"Are you alright?" Erend asked.

The woman finally seemed to regain control of herself. She blinked several times before closing her mouth. She drew a long breath as though trying to calm her nerves, then slowly exhaled.

"I’m... I’m fine," she said. "Thank you. But who are you?"

Her eyes moved over Erend from head to toe.

Fortunately, Erend had already activated his disguise Magic. To the woman, he appeared to be wearing clothing that belonged to the people of this world. It was not a perfect solution, but at least it gave him something that could reduce suspicion about him being an outsider.

Unfortunately, what he had just done could not be hidden so easily.

He had descended from the sky and killed a monstrous creature with a single attack. No disguise could completely erase an event like that from someone’s memory.

Erend still had no idea how he was supposed to explain it.

"It’s not important," Erend said. "I helped you. So now it’s your turn to help me."

He went straight to the point.

He needed a guide to this world. Unlike Elyndor, where they had eventually encountered the lord governor, a person with considerable authority who could provide them with information, this woman did not look like someone who possessed any kind of political influence.

But he had to make do with what he had.

The woman swallowed nervously. Her eyes remained fixed on Erend with caution and perhaps a little fear. Her reaction was understandable. Erend had just appeared from the sky and killed a monster in a single attack.

"Of course. What do you want?" she asked.

Erend smiled, trying to make himself appear less threatening.

It did not seem to work. The image of him descending from the sky and destroying the monster with a single attack was probably still too fresh in her mind.

Erend thought for a moment before sighing. "First, I don’t intend to harm you," he said.

The woman did not look convinced.

"I only want you to help me. Or rather, help us. We need to understand this world better."

Those words made the woman blink several times in quick succession. Confusion replaced some of the fear in her expression.

"What do you mean?"

"Listen. This is probably going to sound strange to you, but I’m telling you the truth."

Erend slowly walked toward her.

The woman immediately took a cautious step backward.

Erend stopped when he noticed her reaction and raised his hands slightly to show that he meant no harm.

"I came from another world," he said. "And I need to look for something here."

Norma stared at Erend with clear astonishment again. She was just silent for several seconds as she looked at him as though trying to determine whether he was serious or simply making some strange joke.

Erend allowed her the time to process his words because he understood that what he had just told her was not something an ordinary person would accept easily.

"Not from this world?" Norma finally asked.

Her gaze then moved downward toward the ground. She looked at the dead monster lying several meters away with its head destroyed by Erend’s attack. She then looked back at Erend again, and something seemed to click inside her mind.

"Alright. I... I think I can accept that explanation now."

Erend smiled. "Good. My name is Erend. What’s yours?"

"Norma."

"Okay, Norma. I need your help. I want you to tell me what happened to this world and help us understand it. But before that, we need to wait for my friends."

Norma’s expression changed again. "There are more of you?"

"Three more."

Erend immediately reached out through their telepathic connection. He informed Eccar, Aesa, and Sylven that he had found someone who could potentially help them understand Valthoria and asked them to come to his location.

The response came almost immediately.

Not long afterward, three figures appeared in the distant sky. They flew across the barren landscape and quickly approached Erend’s position.

Norma looked up when she noticed them. Her eyes widened again as the three figures descended from the sky with large wings spread behind them.

They landed near Erend one after another.

Norma stared at them in disbelief.

Erend gestured toward the woman. "This is Norma. She said she’ll help us."

Eccar gave Norma a friendly smile. Sylven did the same while Aesa simply nodded once.

Norma looked between the three Dragonborn and Erend, seemingly realizing that his claim about coming from another world had been far more real than she had initially thought.

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